Chicken — Vegetable Curry Couscous — The Warmth We Carry to the Table

Late April. I am settling into the new rhythm — monthly Sacramento trips, bimonthly anxiety spikes about Ken, the constant background hum of a daughter who does not know and a father who does not speak and a woman between them who carries both their silences along with her own. The carrying is heavy. The carrying is what I do. Nakamuras carry. We always carry. The carrying is in the DNA, next to the shiso seeds and the miso recipes and the silence.

I made oyako donburi — parent-and-child rice bowl — the chicken-and-egg dish whose name is the relationship, whose name is the thing I am thinking about: parent and child. Ken is the parent. I am the child. The Parkinson's is the broth that now simmers between us, flavoring every conversation, every silence, every phone call on Sunday evening when I call and he answers and we talk about the garden and do not talk about the tremor and the not-talking is the talking and the dashi is the broth and the egg is the love and the chicken — well. The metaphor collapses eventually. All food metaphors collapse eventually. But the donburi is good and the eating is good and the naming — parent and child, parent and child — is the truth, and the truth is on the plate, and the plate is held in both hands, and the hands are steady.

Miya's Japanese school is going well — she can read simple sentences now, can recognize about a hundred kanji, can sound out most of Fumiko's recipe cards with help. The help is mine, sitting beside her at the kitchen table, my finger next to hers on the card, the two of us reading together in a language that is becoming hers the way it became mine: slowly, with errors, with the persistence that Fumiko demanded and I demand and Miya will demand of her own children someday, if she has children, if the chain continues, if the recipe cards survive long enough to be read by a fourth generation.

The chain will continue. The recipe cards will survive. I have to believe this. The belief is not faith — it is evidence. The evidence is Miya at the kitchen table, reading "miso shiru" in Fumiko's handwriting, shaping onigiri with wet hands, saying "itadakimasu" before dinner, carrying the inheritance in her body the way I carry it in mine, the way Ken carries the internment in his, the way we all carry the things we were given, the things we did not choose, the things that made us, the things that are us. The chain holds. It always holds.

I don’t always have the time to make a proper oyako don on a weeknight — the dashi, the careful timing of the egg — but I still need the thing the dish means: warmth in a bowl, chicken and grain and something fragrant that fills the kitchen while Miya does her reading at the table. This Chicken & Vegetable Curry Couscous has become our weeknight stand-in, the grain swapped but the spirit kept. I make it when I need the table to hold us, when I need the smell of something cooking to be the evidence that the chain continues and the hands are steady.

Chicken & Vegetable Curry Couscous

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (for couscous)
• 1 cup chicken broth (for sauce)
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 1/2 tsp curry powder, divided
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. Season the chicken. Toss chicken pieces with 1 tsp curry powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and a few grinds of black pepper until evenly coated.
2. Cook the chicken. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook, turning once, until golden on the outside and cooked through, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. Soften the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil to the same skillet. Add onion and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and carrot begins to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
4. Add remaining vegetables and spices. Stir in bell pepper and zucchini. Add remaining 1 1/2 tsp curry powder, cumin, and turmeric; stir to coat everything and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
5. Simmer. Pour in 1 cup chicken broth and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the broth has reduced slightly, about 6 to 8 minutes. Return the chicken to the pan and stir to combine; heat through for 2 minutes.
6. Prepare the couscous. While the vegetables simmer, bring 1 1/2 cups chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous, cover tightly, and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork and season lightly with salt.
7. Serve. Spoon couscous into shallow bowls and ladle the chicken and vegetable curry over the top. Garnish with fresh cilantro or parsley and serve immediately, held in both hands.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 430 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 50g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 470mg